Female cop in NJ gets $1.5M in gender discrimination lawsuit

WEST LONG BRANCH — A police officer who says she was refused a promotion because of her gender has been awarded $1.5 million.

NJ.com reports that a jury awarded Marlowe Botti $521,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages Wednesday. Botti joined the West Long Branch Police Department in 2004 and moved to the detective bureau in 2008.

Botti says she was removed from the detective bureau after her working relationship with a male officer dissolved after she married another officer.

The officer says she scored the highest out of six officers on a sergeant test, but the other officer was promoted after a second test was administered.

Botti says West Long Branch refused to release a ranking of the sergeant candidates and she was later yelled at in a private meeting.

Botti was promoted to sergeant in 2016.